Lord of the Flies: The Apartment

If you could take the danger element out of the picture, I wonder what my apartment would look like if we left the kids alone in it all day.  Owen is getting more and more active by the minute...he is constantly moving.  When I'm holding him, he's trying to climb over my shoulder and when he's on the floor, he's army crawling to the nearest esophagus sized (and for some reason delicious looking) object under the couch--far enough under so that we don't notice it to pick it up, but close enough to the edge that HE can spot it in a second and reach it with his little arm.  He's starting to pull up to the tables and the toy shelf so all of that stuff is ending up on the floor practically the minute you put him on the floor.  As with all babies, he often times heads straight for the shoe pile by the door to sneak a taste before we realize he's got a gum and dirt encrusted flip flop jammed into his mouth.  Ew. Anyway, although he can't reach very far UP yet, he would certainly do his fair share of damage at shin level if left alone for a day.

Zoe might be able to handle herself alright, I have to say (again, being sure to keep the danger element out of it because otherwise she would surely do her little brother in trying to "help" him do stuff).  She's grown up a lot over this last year and can now brush her teeth, get dressed, go to the bathroom and make her meals all by herself....understand, though that just because she is ABLE to do these things doesn't necessarily mean she WILL do them unassisted.  We still help her out with all of these things most days, either as per her request (bathroom visits) or in order to keep things fairly orderly (making meals).  More and more though I trust her to make my lunch at least.  She even likes me to go in the other room while she makes my sandwich so she can come in when she's done and say "There's a surprise for you in the kitchen!".  If I have to feed Owen at the same time she insists that I not look at what she's doing...even if she asks for help:  "Mommy, will you open the peanut butter--but DON'T LOOK AT IT!!"  Anyway, she actually does a pretty great job with my lunches...The other day I was upstairs on the computer while she was making lunch (ahhh...the life!) and she yelled up "Mommy! I askidentally gave you the biggest mustard in the whole wide wold!"...Cringing a bit, I went down to her beaming face and took a bite of my cheese and MUSTARD sandwich and it was pretty perfect!  This "my kids growing up so fast" thing ain't so bad, I must say!  Pretty soon we'll be able to make her wash the dishes and clean the bathroom--the dream of every parent.

It was because of this new passion of hers for making our lunches that this post about a mud pie kitchen on TinkerLab spoke to me.  I immediately became inspired to run to Goodwill and see what I could find.  Low and behold I found everything a girl could want in a mud kitchen.  I scored the kid's work bench for $7, a big plastic bin for storing all the buckets and stuff for $4 and a few new tools for less than $3.  She prepared a 5-course meal for me and named her new chic restaurant "Parmesan Cheese Chandelier Restaurant".  She says her next step is to make actual menus and serve anyone who happens upon our patio and has time to sit, relax and enjoy the flawless and truly original "Mud Flat Cake".  Yay Mud!

Hard at work in the kitchen

Grand Opening

Pie

Aren't you jealous?

The menu!